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It’s past time for state to rein in Highway Patrol

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Talk about overreach: The State Highway Patrol, under the Kasich administration, has continually
pushed the envelope regarding its statutory authority (“Sheriffs, patrol guard their turf,”
Dispatch article, Feb. 2). It has done so to the point that now, the patrol finds itself
in court as a result of its illegal actions in attempting to serve arrest warrants.

Understand, this is the same group — I include the director of public safety in this — that
tried to take over the attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents and continually
hamstrings local law enforcement and sheriff’s offices with its restrictive rules on use of the
state’s law-enforcement database.

Not only have troopers tried to police Columbus neighborhoods, bringing the rightful wrath of
the folks in Driving Park, they’ve also been spotted on Morse Road taking enforcement actions in
Columbus proper.

It’s high time that someone, possibly the state attorney general, take both the Department of
Public Safety and State Highway Patrol to task, as they are not police officers per se, they have
virtually no investigative experience, and they do not have the legal authority to perform police
functions other than traffic-related activities on state highways.